Hero Behind A Badge
by wwechick
Summary: Officer John Shaw (played by Dean Ambrose) and his partner Officer Bethany Brookes, (OC) get a call about a domestic dispute taking place in New Orleans. Short story. Featuring Dean Ambrose/OC'S This story is to celebrate Dean's first full-length acting role in a movie.
1. Chapter 1

Okay, readers. Before we start this story, this is another Dean Ambrose tale. **BUT**...I am using his character from Officer John Shaw from 12 Rounds: Lockdown. I wanted to write something to celebrate Dean's first big acting role. So I used his character in a little story of my own. Anyway, here you go. This will only be 4 chapters. Sorry it's so short, I just wanted to test the waters with John Shaw first. Well, I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it out. Let the tale begin.

 **Hero Behind A Badge**

Chapter 1:

August 21, 2015: The night was calm. The night was quiet. The night was hot; which was always to be expected in New Orleans, LA, this time of year. A cop car was occupying the parking lot of Casey's General Store. For a stakeout? No. Just a quick pitstop for an 8:00 pm cup of coffee and a slice of pizza. Actually, 8:15 to be exact.

A young brown-headed cop, decked out head to toe in her cop uniform, made her way back to the cop car pizza and drink carrier in her hands. She walked over to the driver's side window, tapped and waited patiently as her young brown-headed male rolled down the window.

"Here's your coffee and pizza." she said passing a cup of coffee and a sligle slice to her partner in the driver's seat.

"Thank you, Bethany." he answered gratefully.

"My pleasure, John." Bethany replied.

Officer Bethany Brookes walked in front of the car, her beverage and snack in hand, and reached the passenger's side door. She opened the door and slid inside before shutting the door. She got settled in before taking her first sip of the hot brew.

Officer John Shaw went to take a sip of his coffee, then halted. "You didn't doctor my coffee with some of that fancy-schmancy flavoring, did you?"

"Nope. Black. Just the way you like it."

"You know me too well, officer."

"Well...I've been your partner for 6 months now. If there is one thing I needed to know about you is how you take your coffee."

John put the cup to his mouth, sipping carefully. He felt the warmth of the beverage pass smoothly down his throat before smacking his lips. "Aah. Perfect. Better than what you drink."

Officer Brookes lightly chuckled. "Well, Mr. Shaw. I'll have you know that there's nothing wrong with my French Vanilla coffee."

"Well, Mrs. Brookes. I prefer my coffee without the flavorful trimmings, thank you very much." he added playfully.

"You're knocking my coffee?"

"That is not coffee, officer. This.." he said pointing at the cup in his hand. "is coffee."

"You can have your coffee your way, I'll have it my way. Now pipe down and eat your pizza."

"Yes, ma'am."

They both chuckled lighty before taking a bite out of their pizza, consisting of pineapple, and Canadian bacon.

"Yummy. Very good."

"Very tasty. I can't believe you've never tried pineapple on your pizza, John."

"I would have probably said that putting fruit on a pizza is a mistake."

"Tomato's a fruit." Officer Brookes stated.

Officer Shaw eyed her quizzically as he chewed his bite of pizza before speaking. "Oh, yeah. I forgot."

"Changing the subject now, Mr. Avid Reader. What's your book of choice this week?"

If there was one thing anybody knew about Officer John Shaw is that he was a mega-fan of reading. He loved books. It was his escape from the trials of this world.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told ya," he said before taking another bite of his pizza.

"Try me." she dared.

"Okay, " he answered after swallowing. " _Taming of the Shrew_."

"Shakespeare?"

"Yep. Wait. Why do you say Shakespeare like it's such a shock?"

"You don't seem like the type."

"OH-HO! I didn't know I had to be a _type_ to like Shakespeare."

Officer Brookes held her hands upward. "I'm not knocking you for it. I'm just surprised. In a good way, mind you. No offense, but you seem more like the James Patterson kinda guy to me."

"2 things, Bethany. 1: I like William Shakespeare and James Patterson both. 2: Believe it or not, under this 6'4 225 pound rough and tough muscular exterior of this brown-haired blue-eyed man, happens to be a pretty deeply sensitive guy."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Okay. I'll bite. Give me some of your sensitivity...Romeo." she challenged.

Officer Shaw placed the pizza crust on the armrest between the drivers and the passengers seat, then turned in his seat facing his partner. John spoke in a smooth, raspy British Accent.

"But soft. What light through yonder window breaks. It is the East. " He reached out and light cupped Officer Brookes left cheek in his right hand, running his thumb across her skin. "And Juliet...is the sun."

Officer Brookes smiled before speaking. "You're trying to hard."

Officer Shaw quickly retrieved his hand. "Oh, come on now!" he griped dropping the accent. "Give a guy a smidgen of credit here, for Heaven's sakes. Geez."

"You know I like picking on you. You're like my brother."

"Well, I'm glad you're not my sister. I've seen you mad before and I would hate to be on the other end of your angry ramblings, dropping curse words left and right." Officer Brookes' mouth dropped open in an 'o' shape. "And the words you use, I'm sure God would shake his finger at you on Judgment day."

Officer Brookes balled up her right fist and slugged him hard on the right shoulder.

"OW!"

"You sleazy son of a. _MMMPH!_ "

Officer Shaw rapidly clapped his right hand over his partner's mouth, crossed himself before closing his eyes in prayers. "Lord, forgive my friend for such malice on her tongue. She knows not what she says. Amen."

He released her as she glared at him. "Was that necessary?"

"As far as my avid reading is concerned, my Bible is always my book of choice. It's gotten me through some tough situations."

"I never took you for a Bible reader either."

"Oh yeah. Without a doubt."

"Good for you."

At that moment, the police scanner went off in the car. Officer Brookes answered pressing the talk button.

"Officer Brookes with Officer Shaw here. What do you got?"

They listened as the male voice described an act of dispute was taking place at a location near their area. Three blocks away to be exact. The man also made mention of the 911 call being made by a 6 year old girl saying, ' _I think he's going to hurt my mom! Please! Help her! Please!_ '

Domestic violence, Officer Shaw thought as his eyes connected with Officer Brookes. The man gave them the address of the location as Officer Shaw buckled his seat belt.

"We're on it." Officer Brookes said before ending the conversation.

Officer Brookes buckled her seat belt as Officer Shaw flipped a switch turning on the police siren, turned the ignition on, then put the car in drive and sped out of the parking lot heading on down the road. He had requested for his partned to call for back-up, hoping they were not too late.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Moments later, the officers pulled up to the two-story brick house. Officer Shaw put the car in park. He and Officer Brookes undid their seatbelts and exited the car. They removed their cop hats and tossed them in their seats before shutting their doors. They walked the straight cement walkway leading to the house.

"What's your plan, John?"

"I'll let you know."

Just then, they heard the sound of glass breaking and a womans voice cry out. They ran the rest of the way until they reached the front door; John on the right side, Bethany on the left. They removed the guns from their holsters. John tried the doorknob. Locked. He stood back a step, then, with all his might, kicked the door in. John and Bethany stepped inside to the living room on their left. They saw a muscular dark-haired man standing over a woman, whom was sitting fearfully on the couch. John and Bethany had their guns pointed at the intimidating male figure.

"FREEZE!" Officer Brookes demanded.

"Step away from the girl and put your hands over your head. NOW!"

The behemoth charged at the officers. Had they not moved aside, he would have plowed them both over. He took off heading up the stairs.

"I'm going after him," Officer Shaw announced as he made his way to the staircase.

"Be careful." Officer Brookes warned as she made her way to the the woman's side. "It's alright. You're safe now. Help is on the way. Are you hurt?"

The woman shook her head 'no'. "My daughter. She's hiding upstairs."

The two officers' eyes connected. John gave his partner before he ascended the steps.

"Don't worry. My partner will find her. Let's get you outside."

John made it to the second floor of the house, gun held out in front of him. He checked the closet to his left, the upstairs bathroom. Both clear of the intruder. He made his way to what he guessed was the main bedroom, next to the upstairs bathroom on the left. He walked over to the closed door and took a deep breath. He quickly crossed himself before placing his hand on the knob and turned it slowly. It turned with ease and the door opened inward. His left hand reached for the small flashlight on his belt, nessled against his left hip. He turned it on, flashing the light to the right wall. He found the lightswitch and flicked it on before replacing the flashlight to his belt.

It was just a basic bedroom. Bed, chest of drawers, tv, closet. Very simple. John continued to hold the gun outward away from him as he neared the closet. He walked over and pushed the sliding door of the closet open and peeked inside. Empty. He shook his head in frustration. He had to find this man before...

Before another thought entered his mind, he felt a leather belt wrap tightly around his throat. His hands grabbed for the belt immediately.

"Drop the gun...or I'll snap your neck." The attacker hissed in John's ear.

He dropped the gun to the side without a moment's hesitation. His fingers clawed at the strap of material around his neck as his attacker pulled him backwards. He tried to pull the belt away from his windpipe. He gagged and struggled, trying to break free of this man's iron grasp. John couldn't draw a proper breath. He continued to struggle until he brought his right elbow into the mans ribs, connecting 2 times. The man finally released John.

John fell to a heap on the floor, his back hitting the wall near the closet, gasping deeply coughing. The 6'5 male growled at the pain in his ribcage before driving the toe of his right boot into John's gut twice. John groaned loudly as his arms circled around his midsection.

"Cops. Never was a fan of them." He reached down and grabbed a handful of John's hair. John made it to his knees. He eyed the man, who's face was merely an inch away from his. "You shouldn't stick your nose where it doesn't belong, _boy._ "

Perfect opportunity. John brought his right arm in between the man's legs, connecting with his groin. John then balled up his right fist and found his target, the nose. John made it to his feet, preparing himself in a fighting stance.

"You broke my nose!"

"You can handle it. You're a big boy. I say 'boy' cause that is all you will ever be."

That was enough to set the big guy off. He balled up his fists and took a swing. John blocked the blow by bringing his left arm up. With his right fist, he socked the guy in the face, brought the soul of his right foot into his attacker's solax plexis, then landed a vicious right to the man's jaw. He went for a left hook, but the man grabbed his arm, and drove his right elbow into John's face, catching him off-guard. He then added a right-left-right combo to John's face, the last blow sending him to the carpeted floor.

The villain reached down and picked up the gun, eyeing it as if it possessed him. He used his foot to roll John onto his back before lowering himself to the floor. He pulled the hammer back as he aimed the weapon between John's blue eyes.

"I've never killed a cop before. I've always wondered what it would be like."

"DROP THE GUN! NOW! OR WE SHOOT!"

With the distraction, John brought the palm of his right hand upward, smacking his opponent's already broken nose, causing him to drop the gun. The 3 cops made their way into the room and quickly held the man down on the floor, slapping the handcuffs on him. The head officer, a mid-40's male, clean shaven, Officer Thomas Pepper to the bureau, assisted John to his feet.

"You alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine." he answered as he bent over to pick up his gun. He walked up to the attacker, whom was now standing up again. "You don't like being pushed around, do ya? Don't like being manhandled? How do you think she felt? Get this piece of trash out of my face before I decide to continue with the beating he deserves."

John placed his gun back into his belt holster as they took the man away. He turned his attention to the head officer. "How's the woman? Is she safe?"

"She's with your partner outside. Shaken up, but safe."

"Did he hurt her?"

"She said he didn't. Looks like he walloped you pretty good." he said noticing the instant marks on John's pulling a hankerchief out of his back pants pocket, and passed it to John. "Blood on your lip."

"Oh. Thanks." John replied with a nod as he lightly dabbed at his lip. "Did you get the name of the woman?"

"Her name is Annabelle McGee. 27 years of age. She said she has a daughter hiding up here somewhere. Did you find her?"

 _The daughter_ , John thought to himself as he rolled his eyes. He forgot about the daughter. He put the hankerchief in his shirt pocket, then proceeded out of the main bedroom. He remembered seeing one more door on this floor...and he knew right then and there where she was hiding.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

John reached the last door on the hall. Sure enough, the door was closed. It had a small rectangle pink sign, with white flowers used as a border, on the door. In bold white painted lettering, it said, 'STEPHANIE'S ROOM'. John placed his hand on the doorknob and turned it. The door opened inward showcasing a room with a definite girls touch. He walked in, his feet cascading the carpeted floor. He noticed one particular thing about this room. Pink. Lots and lots of pink with mixtures of white. Girly furniture, pictures of princesses hung on the walls, a princess canopy bed. Basically, it was a princess-like room.

John was surrounded with silence. Nothing but silence, until he heard a tiny sound coming from the closet to his left. Sobbing. Soft sobbing.

 _Stephanie_ , John thought to himself. He shook his head wondering on how frightened this little girl must have been. Then, he heard her little voice speak.

"Mommy. Mommy!"

Poor child. This little girl tugged at John's heart strings. A scared child, yet a brave child, calling 911 in hopes that the police could help her mother escape the violent hands of that monster. John slowly approached the closet hearing Stephanie's heart-shattering whispered weeping. Then he heard her pray through her tears.

"Please, God. Please. Send that bad man away. Please keep my mommy safe."

John swallowed the lump in his throat before tapping lightly on the closet door. He heard her gasp and shuffling of hangers as John assumed she tried to hide further back into the closet.

"Stephanie?"

"LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"It's okay, Stephanie. I'm not gonna hurt you," he quickly assured. "My name is officer John Shaw. I'm here to help you. I'm a cop."

"You are?"

"Yes, Stephanie. You were the one that called the polices, right?"

"Yes."

"You did the right thing. Because of you, you saved yours and your mother's lives."

"Where is that man who came after my mom?"

"You don't have to worry about him anymore, sweetheart. Not anymore. He is being taken to the station right now as I am speaking to you. He will never bother you or your mother ever again."

"Where's my mom?"

"She's with a very good friend of mine. Her name is Bethany Brookes. She a police officer like me. She's my partner."

"Really?"

"Yes, ma'am. Now why don't you come out of there?"

"I'm scared."

"I know you're scared, honey. But you're safe now. Nothing will harm you. I won't harm you. I swear to you I won't. If you come out of there, I'll take you to your mother. I'm sure she's very worried about you."

A few seconds passed without another word.

"I don't believe you." Stephanie said.

Fair enough, John thought. Then he had another thought and reached for an object clipped to the left of his belt. He removed it as lowered himself to both knees in front of the closet door.

"Okay. How about this? What if I show you my policemans badge?"

A brief moment passed before he heard more movement coming from inside the closet. The door slowly opened. John held his breath as he saw, emerging from the closet, a young auburn-haired, brown-eyed girl, mother's cellphone in her right hand. Stephanie eyed the officer kneeling in front of her. She ran her eyes up and down at his uniform before turning her eyes to his.

"You're really a cop?"

A soft smile graced John's face. "Yes, ma'am." he answered sweetly.

Stephanie stepped closer to John,, not taking her eyes off of him. As soon as she was closer to him, he held out his right hand, extending the badge in her direction. She took the badge in her small hand. She glanced at it quietly before turning her eyes back up towards the officer.

"You sure my mom is safe?"

"I cross my heart," he said doing the motion. "Now...how about it? Are you ready to see her again?"

Stephanie nodded. "What happened to your face?"

"I...had a little accident. Come on. Let's go reunite her with your mom. Okay?"

"Okay."

Stephanie handed the badge back to John, whom clipped it back onto his belt as he rose to his feet. "Mind if I pick you up and carry you?"

She put her mom's cell phone in her pocket before reaching her hands up. John bent down and gently lifted Stephanie into his arms.

"You know, Stephanie," he said looking around her room."From the looks of things, I would say that your favorite color is pink."

"Yeah," she stated happily. "What's your favorite color?"

"Take a wild guess."

"Blue."

John's mouth fell open. "Now, how did you know that?"

"Cause you're a boy."

John pursed his lips together, bobbing his head back and forth.

"Makes sense."


	4. Chapter 4

This is the last chapter of my new story. I know it's short. Like I said, I just wanted to do a tiny celebration using Dean's character in his first (and hopefully not his last) movie. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the last chapter of Hero Behind A Badge. Thanks and God Bless.

Chapter 4:

Officer Bethany Brookes was watching Annabelle with her daughter Stephanie, through a window, in the kids room of the police station. Annabelle sat by her daughter watching her color a picture. Officer Brookes turned her eyes to the right when she heard soft foot steps approaching her.

"How are they doing?" Officer Shaw asked carrying a drink holder in his hands.

"Looks like they're gonna be okay. How did it go with Mr. Cooper?"

John had spent about 30 minutes badgering Jack Cooper with questions in the interrogation room. Cooper tried to intimidate John, but it didn't work. Jack walked away from the fight with a broken nose, cut on his right cheek, and a bruised ego. Whereas John walked away from the fight with a right black eye, and a busted lip. Jack made it well known that he had no problem giving John another black eye. That was after John explained to Jack what he might experience behind bars. He even mentioned what might happen if he came across a man nicknamed Bubba and how much he liked to 'welcome' new inmates where he was headed.

"Wait a minute, John." Bethany spoke up after John finished his tale. "Where he's going, there is nobody named 'Bubba', especially one who likes to be _friendly_ with new inmates, as you so plainly put it."

John snickered. "We know that. He, on the other hand, doesn't."

"You're mean, John." she laughed. "Is one of those for me?"

John passed a coffee to her. "Is someone coming to pick them up?"

"While you were dealing with Jack, she made a call to her father. He's on his way here now."

"Good. I'm gonna go in and talk with Annabelle for a while. Would you let me know when he gets here?"

"Sure."

John went to walk into the room as Bethany turned to walk away. "Bethany?" She turned to look at her partner. "Thanks for your help tonight."

"You're welcome." she said before continuing to walk down the hall.

John lightly knocked on the door before entering.

"Hey there." he said shutting the door behind him.

"Hi." Annabelle greeted.

"Hi, Mr. Shaw." Stephanie greeted.

"I brought you some coffee, Annabelle."

"Thank you."

He nodded removing a cup from the cup holder and passing to Annabelle. He removed another cup and passed it to Stephanie. "Here is some milk for you, Stephanie."

"Thank you." she said taking the cup from him.

"You're welcome."

John led Annabelle over to a bench against a wall on the other side of the room, with his own cup of the hot brew. They sat down before speaking.

"How's she doing?"

"I think she's gonna be alright?"

"You?"

"I'm okay." Annabelle looked at John's face. She pointed to her right eye. "That looks painful."

"It's nothing, really. It's not my first black eye and it won't be my last. So...why did Jack come after you?"

Annabelle went through the tale on how her and her daughter were sitting at home, when there was a knock at her door. She looked out the window to see Jack standing there. She pulled her cellphone out and gave it to her daughter and told her to run upstairs and hide in her bedroom closet and call 911. She mentioned she had filed for divorce after that one Thursday night just 4 weeks ago. Jack was going off on how he felt unappreciated after providing for her and their daughter. How he brought in money for food, clothing, bills.

Annabelle tried to explain to Jack she did appreciate him, but she was backhanded to the floor. It wasn't the blow that hurt as much as Stephanie had stood by the kitchen doorway and had seen the incident take place. Annabelle filed for divorce the next day. He couldn't take it. He came along saying he owned Annabelle and Stephanie.

"I had to think of what was best for my little girl. I had to send him away. I feared after he laid his hands on me, what was to stop him if he ever raised a hand to her? I...I couldn't let that happen."

Annabelle wiped the tears from her eyes.

"You did the right thing, Annabelle. And Jack is going away after what he did. He will never come near you, or Stephanie, ever again."

"You're a good man, Mr. Shaw."

A corner of his mouth turned up in a grin. "Call me John."

"Very well...John."

Just then, the door to the room opened and in walked Bethany with a 50 year old man with graying hair, clean-shaven. Stephanie looked up.

"Dad!"

"Grandpa!"

Thomas Mackenzie picked Stephanie up into his arms when she got closer and settler her on his right hip. He drew Annabelle close with his left arm when she was close by his side.

"Are you alright, Annabelle?"

"I'm fine, dad."

"Did he hit you again? Be honest with me, baby."

"No. He didn't. Honest."

"Did he get near you, Stephanie?" he asked locking eyes with his grandchild.

"No, grandpa. Honest."

"Thank God."

Thomas passed Stephanie over to Annabelle before approaching the officer standing in front of him.

"Are you Officer Shaw?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Thank you, young man, for your bravery." he said extending his hand to John. "I thanked your partner already."

"It was not a problem, Mr Mackenzie. Just doing my job."

"Well...you do it well. Annabelle and Stephanie are coming home with me tonight. I'll give you my number if you need any more information."

"I think we have all of the information we need on the man, but I guess if you wanted to leave your number with my partner, we could call tomorrow and check on your daughter and granddaughter."

"Sure."

Later on in the parking lot, Thomas made sure Stephanie was buckled in properly, in his dark blue sedan, before entering the car himself, and strapping the belt on. Annabelle stood under a parking lot light talking with John.

"You sure you're gonna be alright?"

"Yes. Thanks to Stephanie, and Officer Brookes. And you."

"Your daughter was very brave in calling us for help. Her mother is just as brave."

She smiled up at him. "I can't thank you enough for what you did tonight."

"It's okay. You won't have to."

"But, if I don't, I'll regret it. So..."

She stepped closer to him. Her left hand found the back of John's neck. Annabelle pulled him closer until their lips connected. Their mouthes opened slightly, their tongues entertwining. John's left hand cupped the back of Annabelle's neck as the kiss deepened. They ended the kiss shortly.

"Thank you." Annabelle said breathlessly.

"You're welcome."

She walked over to her father's car and nestled herself into the passengers seat in the front. The engine came to life, and the car soon drove out of the parking lot of the police station, leaving John standing under the parking lot light. He watched the car until it was no longer in sight, the turned toward the building, when he saw his partner standing there in front of him.

"So..."

"So..."

"That was a very friendly kiss."

"What are you talking about? She was just being nice."

"Yeah. Being nice by playing tonsil hockey with you."

"Pfft. Whatever."

"And also, what is that piece of paper she stuck in your left pants pocket? Or were you just too drawn into the little smooch to notice?"

He did feel her right hand slide down his left arm reaching for his pants pocket. His hand reached in and felt something was definitely present.

"You might want to take a look at it. Although, I might have a pretty good idea of what it might be...Romeo."

Bethany winked at him before walking into the police station. John pulled the neatly folded up piece of white paper out of his pocket. He looked around making sure nobody else was around. He unfolded the paper, his eyes scanning over the contents of the note. The words **CALL ME** along with a phone number popped out at him. He licked his lips as he remembered the kiss just moments ago. How soft her lips were. The hint of strawberry lip gloss. Kisses as sweet as honey.

 _Hmm. Should I call her or not?_ he thought to himself. The left side of his mouth curved up in a slight grin.

 _Yep._

 **THE END**


End file.
